After work I go home and clean myself up a bit - changing into my nicer church clothes - before going to see Tobias. He has been moved to a house closer to us - just a street over - and the walk is quick. I knock on Tobias' door once, twice, three times and when he doesn't answer I am concerned. "Tobias?" I ask as I push open the door and enter. I see fresh vegetables sitting next to the sink, already rinsed, and a loaf of bread still wrapped on the table. The living room is pristine with no signs of any upset and Tobias' jacket is in the closet. Going up the stairs slowly, I cautiously peek into the empty extra bedroom before moving on to the next room which I assume to be Tobias'. I knock softly before pushing the door open carefully.
Tobias looks so much younger when he sleeps. He's sprawled out across his bed, head barely off the pillow and blanket slung low across his bare back. I take in the various crisscrossing scars and fading bruises across his back. I wonder if any still pain him and sigh softly. I sniffle at the thought of the small child Tobias had to have been to sustain some of the barely visible marks on his skin that my fingers still remember from the last time I helped him with the salve. I back away, not wanting to wake him, and head back down stairs to figure out what he wants for dinner.
Once in the kitchen I look in the refrigerator and find some meat that wasn't chicken. I remember we had eaten pork before, but this was a different darker meat and I leave it as I try to think of how I will cook it. I find a recipe book - in the cupboard I thought large serving bowls would be - and stand on my toes to reach for it. A large hand reaches up, pulling the book down with a loud thud onto the counter and I jump. "I thought you were a-" My voice dies away when I turn and see Marcus standing beside me.
I back away from him, holding the book to my chest. "Now, why don't you tell me exactly why you're trying to corrupt my son?" Marcus asks and I blink at him wide-eyed.
"I'm not corrupting him." I state, raising my chin. I'm not afraid of what Marcus will do to me, but I am afraid of what he will do to Tobias. Beating his own child was surprising enough for me, but if he knew Tobias had been talking with other factions and having visitors then he would surely turn Tobias in as a faction traitor. "I'm just trying to help my boyfriend recover." I meet Marcus' eyes, a sign of defiance, and he frowns at me. "You, however, have tried your best to corrupt him and you just hate that now that I'm here he's stopped taking your abuse. Are you really that afraid of a little girl, Marcus?" I know pushing him is a bad idea, but I can't stop my voice from erupting from my mouth.
"You insubordinate little pest." Marcus goes to make a move for me but when I step back I pull the knife from my boot. "A knife like that isn't a toy, little girl." Marcus' voice is dark, full of malice, and I take a chance on throwing it at him. He yowls as it sinks into his shoulder and I grin softly at myself before making my way around the table and up the stairs. I only make it a few steps before running straight into Tobias for the second time today.
"Marcus, I suggest you leave." Tobias steps forward, yanking the knife from Marcus' shoulder and tossing it in the sink before pulling the gun from his waistband. "You are no longer welcome in my home. If you breathe one word of this to anyone I will go straight to the counsel and give them all the proof they need that you are as unfit for your position as you are a parent."
Marcus stares at us for a second and I wonder what we might look like to him; Tobias is bare chested and holding a gun as his shoulders heave with the effort it is taking him to breathe and I am in my Sunday best, a foot shorter than them both, clutching a cook book to my chest and glaring daggers from Tobias' side - before watching Marcus back his way out the door. Tobias moves and slams it shut behind Marcus before turning at me with a puzzled look.
"Why didn't you yell for me?" Tobias asks and I frown.
"I didn't think to, I thought I could handle it myself. You're still recovering and I don't want you to get worse because of him." I feel like I can spit venom at the word and Tobias laughs gently.
"You should have seen yourself." His voice was soft, intimate and I hung on his every word, curious as to what he was talking about. "I don't know what it was, but in that moment when I watched you throw the knife," He runs a hand through his hair with another laugh, cupping the back of his own neck with a hum, "your eyes were just alight with this fire and it was amazing." All I could do was stand there and blush. My mind is torn from the blueness of his eyes when he is wracked with coughs again and I remember he is still healing. I help him sit before grabbing the inhaler for him in case he needs it.
"You should go lay back down." I state softly, resting my hand against his shoulder. My palm still tingles where our skin meets, fingers parallel with a fading bruise, and I pull my hand away as I feel my face get even more flushed. Tobias catches my hand and skims it up his chest and neck to press it against his cheek, skin hot against my cold fingers.
"Are you afraid of me, Beatrice?" He asks, voice husky and gruff, and I don't know the proper answer. I know he could take from me whatever he wanted, and I know he could easily hurt me, but I'm not afraid of those things. I'm more afraid of him being so close. I had only ever seen my parents hold hands and only seen bare bodies while working but here, in the intimacy of his home, I am mostly afraid of him making me bare too. What type of bareness I am afraid of - physical or emotional - I don't really know.
"Are you afraid of me, Tobias?" I ask him in a silvery voice and he laughs, pressing his cheek into my palm and inhaling at my wrist.
"Terrified." He whispers. A knock at the door breaks the quiet spell and I cast a sad glance to the door and then back at Tobias.
"Go put a shirt on, I'll get the door." Tobias nods and I set aside the cook book on my way to the door. When I open it, I frown at seeing my mother standing on the other side. "Mom, come in?" I look over my shoulder.
"I need to speak with you and Tobias." My mother states and I frown before nodding.
"Have a seat, I'll see if Tobias is awake." I glance to the kitchen, where the bloody knife is hiding in the sink, before leading my mother into the living room and letting her sit on the couch. I quickly make my way up the stairs and knock softly on Tobias' door. It opens and I smile up at him before looking over my shoulder. "My mother's here. She says she needs to talk to us."
"I figured this would happen, but not this soon." I frown at Tobias but follow him down the stairs where he moves to sit across from my mother, I sit next to her and smile although I am confused.
"Natalie, to what do I owe the pleasure?" The tone in which Tobias addresses my mother confuses me. I know my father is a colleague so addressing him by his first name is common but my mother? She doesn't seem phased and looks at me, reaching out to pet my hair for a brief moment, before turning her attention to Tobias again.
"Andrew told me that they will be sending delegates to Dauntless on Monday." Tobias nods and I frown. How had Tobias known this? How does my mother know this? "I know out of everyone you will be the most prepared, I expect you to not let Beatrice out of your sight."
'I know you out of everyone will be the most prepared.' This phrase coming from my mother unsettles me. Does she know about Tobias' affiliation with the Dauntless? How could she possibly know he would be the most prepared of us all? A million questions warp their way through my mind - enough so that I miss the last half of their conversation and don't realize it had ended until my mother is standing. I stand with her, looking between her and Tobias, confused, before following them to the door.
"Also, there's no church tonight. It seems Marcus was attacked by some rogue factionless while he was walking home from work." She eyes Tobias curiously. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" Tobias laughs and shakes his head.
"If I had any hand in it you, as well as I, know that he wouldn't be walking." The frankness in which Tobias speaks surprises me and before I can ask about it my mother is tucking a lock of hair behind my ear and smiling at me.
"Well, there is a curfew enforced so I'd rather prefer Beatrice stay here instead of walking all the way home and risking getting caught by these rogues." I don't miss the look she and Tobias share before she turns and leaves.
"What's for dinner?" Tobias asks low in my ear and I blush gently.
"What was that all about?" I ask as the door shuts behind us.
"I have no idea what you mean, Beatrice." He's playing stupid and it irritates me.
"Right. Well if you're not going to tell me then I'm going to leave." I gather my jacket but before I can make it three steps Tobias grabs my arm and frowns.
"All right, All right. I'm sorry." He starts coughing again and I make a mental note: adrenaline makes his breathing more difficult. "Your mother is the one who has been helping me get things from Dauntless. There are others, inside the Dauntless compound, who are on our side - including Zeke - who are fighting to save the Divergent."
"Does she know about you?" I ask. Tobias nods licking his lips and a knot inside my stomach unravels.
"I'll let her tell you the rest when she feels comfortable enough to do so." His silly grin makes me smile and I can't help but let the anger and irritation I had previously dissolve. "Anyways, she just gave us an out to go practice without anyone worrying about where you are." I smile at this and he laughs, gently moving to the sink to take hold of the knife, blood half-dried on it. "Although, I don't know how much practice you need with that throw you landed." We both laugh at that and he gestures me forward, opening the forgotten cook book to a page. "I'll wash your knife if you'll start on this for me." I nod gently and begin working, humming softly to myself at the realization that I could get used to this: Tobias and I making dinner together every night
